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They also advised against travel restrictions and told people they didn't need to wear masks - despite their own studies proving the opposite.

DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
They advised against travel restrictions for two reasons: 1. Research has shown that travel restrictions are ineffective at preventing the spread of highly infectious respiratory viruses. 2. The entire framework of international health cooperation is set up to discourage travel restrictions. The International Health Regulations of 2005, a treaty that basically every country in the world is a party to, says that travel restrictions should only be applied if there is strong scientific evidence that they will work. The WHO was simply following the rules laid down by the US and all the other countries that wrote and signed the IHR. Instead, the WHO recommended measures like screening of travelers who have been to affected areas, as well as widespread testing, tracing and isolation. Countries that implemented those measures (such as South Korea) did much better than countries that quickly instituted travel bans but did not conduct widespread testing (such as Italy and the US). As for the effectiveness of masks, what studies are you referring to? My impression was that research was mixed before the pandemic, with some studies showing that low-quality masks could actually increase transmission if used by the public.
- koonsolo 6y ago
  Meanwhile, Taiwan kept its economy running because they didn't trust the data that was coming from China and its hand puppet WHO. https://www.ft.com/content/b59c238c-d004-44a2-bd9f-c5b1e7a5bc8a https://www.ft.com/content/b59c238c-d004-44a2-bd9f-c5b1e7a5b... And by the way, the WHO doesn't even recognize Taiwan as shown in this very painful video. https://youtu.be/fASh2_RzMuE https://youtu.be/fASh2_RzMuE So yeah, my opinion is that the WHO can go screw itself.
  - DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
    I don't see anything about Taiwan not trusting the WHO in the FT article. Taiwan is not a member of the WHA because Taiwan is not an internationally recognized state. This is an issue that the WHO has no control over. It's a body tasked with coordinating public health around the world, not with solving intractable disputes over sovereignty and diplomatic recognition. I thought that the particular interview you linked to was done in very poor taste. The interviewer was trying to force someone who focuses on public health to make a statement about territorial sovereignty. She should ask politicians that question, but trying to promote Taiwanese sovereignty by bashing the WHO is just very low. Public health is something incredibly important, and shouldn't be made into a political battleground or damaged for cheap political points.
    - koonsolo 6y ago
      Alright, then maybe this article is more explicit for you https://www.discovery.org/human/2020/04/20/taiwan-didnt-trust-either-the-chinese-government-or-the-head-of-the-world-health-organization/ https://www.discovery.org/human/2020/04/20/taiwan-didnt-trus... The WHO person in the interview could have responded to the second question on how Taiwan was handling it. Just responding with "China is doing great in all regions" is just a big fucking joke. If you don't think so then it's clear what kind of person I'm talking to.

DiogenesKynikos 6y ago

They advised against travel restrictions for two reasons: 1. Research has shown that travel restrictions are ineffective at preventing the spread of highly infectious respiratory viruses. 2. The entire framework of international health cooperation is set up to discourage travel restrictions. The International Health Regulations of 2005, a treaty that basically every country in the world is a party to, says that travel restrictions should only be applied if there is strong scientific evidence that they will work. The WHO was simply following the rules laid down by the US and all the other countries that wrote and signed the IHR. Instead, the WHO recommended measures like screening of travelers who have been to affected areas, as well as widespread testing, tracing and isolation. Countries that implemented those measures (such as South Korea) did much better than countries that quickly instituted travel bans but did not conduct widespread testing (such as Italy and the US). As for the effectiveness of masks, what studies are you referring to? My impression was that research was mixed before the pandemic, with some studies showing that low-quality masks could actually increase transmission if used by the public.

koonsolo 6y ago
Meanwhile, Taiwan kept its economy running because they didn't trust the data that was coming from China and its hand puppet WHO. https://www.ft.com/content/b59c238c-d004-44a2-bd9f-c5b1e7a5bc8a https://www.ft.com/content/b59c238c-d004-44a2-bd9f-c5b1e7a5b... And by the way, the WHO doesn't even recognize Taiwan as shown in this very painful video. https://youtu.be/fASh2_RzMuE https://youtu.be/fASh2_RzMuE So yeah, my opinion is that the WHO can go screw itself.
- DiogenesKynikos 6y ago
  I don't see anything about Taiwan not trusting the WHO in the FT article. Taiwan is not a member of the WHA because Taiwan is not an internationally recognized state. This is an issue that the WHO has no control over. It's a body tasked with coordinating public health around the world, not with solving intractable disputes over sovereignty and diplomatic recognition. I thought that the particular interview you linked to was done in very poor taste. The interviewer was trying to force someone who focuses on public health to make a statement about territorial sovereignty. She should ask politicians that question, but trying to promote Taiwanese sovereignty by bashing the WHO is just very low. Public health is something incredibly important, and shouldn't be made into a political battleground or damaged for cheap political points.
  - koonsolo 6y ago
    Alright, then maybe this article is more explicit for you https://www.discovery.org/human/2020/04/20/taiwan-didnt-trust-either-the-chinese-government-or-the-head-of-the-world-health-organization/ https://www.discovery.org/human/2020/04/20/taiwan-didnt-trus... The WHO person in the interview could have responded to the second question on how Taiwan was handling it. Just responding with "China is doing great in all regions" is just a big fucking joke. If you don't think so then it's clear what kind of person I'm talking to.